Deceiving Intentions
by Durhelediel
Summary: When the Force guides Luke to a woman in trouble, he discovers things may not be what they appear. Trapped and kept away from the Force, he has no easy way of escapeexactly as a dark Jedi has planned.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Deceiving Intentions 

Author: Durhelediel

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All recognizable Star Wars characters belong to the man himself, George Lucas. I just take them out to dabble with them at times.

Summary: When Luke keeps having troubling visions, he decides to investigate the source…and falls headlong into a trap. Leia receives word, too late, of Luke's impending danger and rushes to save him…with the help of a few old friends.

Timeline: Just after Luke starts the Jedi Academy

Chapter One

She was standing on the lip of a cliff, the harsh winds blowing her dark brown hair across her face. She was breathing hard, panting from the effort of her run. Frantically, she peered down the cliff to the jagged rocks below. She could almost hear the boulders calling her name, or was that her pursuers?

_"Namina…Namina…"_

By the sound of her name, they were too close and she now had no other way to go…but down. She took a deep breath, raised her right foot, and prepared to jump.

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker woke with a soft gasp, jerking upright in his bed. This dream was more urgent than the others, filled with a great intensity. The woman he had been seeing in his dreams for more than a standard month finally had a name…and a clear course of death.

Luke threw his blankets off and left his small quarters in Yavin 4's largest temple to climb the long set of stairs to the top of the Temple. There was a soft wind under the brilliant night sky and he welcomed the feel of the cool breeze against his hot skin. Gazing at the large planet of Yavin hanging in space above him, Luke folded his arms across his chest and sighed.

Were his dreams a message, or actual visions? If they were visions, as he suspected they were, had the woman Namina already killed herself to escape her attackers? Why was he linked to her? Had he met her somewhere in passing that allowed her to invade his slumber? Or was the Force leading him to save her, as it had with Leia and Han on Bespin five years ago?

"Master Skywalker? Am I disturbing you?"

Luke turned at the soft inquiry to see his newest Jedi initiate arrival, Cilghal, approach him. The Mon Calamarian handed him a thick blanket that he recognized as his own.

"I could not sleep with the strange noises of this planet and had passed your quarters to find them empty. The other humans have remarked on how cool this planet can be at night so I thought you might appreciate some cover," Cilghal explained.

Luke smiled at her thoughtfulness and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "Thank you, Cilghal. And, no, you are not disturbing me. I had a…vision that interrupted my sleep."

The female nodded her head and blinked one of her eyes. "The others have also noticed your frequent visions at night. Streen in particular." At Luke's raised eyebrow, she added, "As our Jedi Master, you are talked of much and copied often, with little success at times. We all know that with your level of skill these things will be common."

Luke shook his head and sat on the beveled edge of the Temple roof. "No, these things are _not_ common, Cilghal, at least, not in this way. The Force guides you and it is hardly ever disturbing. This…this is something I have felt only once before, though that involved my twin sister. I do not know what connection I could have with this woman I am seeing."

Cilghal was silent for a moment. Then, "Perhaps you should find the answers that you do not know. Even if it means leaving us for a short time."

He looked at the stars again. For over the past year he had been locating and bringing back to Yavin 4 Force-sensitives in order to train them, to help them learn to control that which they had not even known they had. Could he leave them now, as their training was beginning to progress at a faster rate?

"This is a decision we all must make," he finally told her. "Help me wake the others and join me in the War Room."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I called you all here at this hour to place a decision before you," Luke began once all his Jedi trainees has joined him in the War Room—so called by the Rebel Alliance when they had been stationed here before the death of the first Death Star.

Streen, an older man from the Cloud City of Bespin, nodded sagely. He was one of the more sensitive of the Jedi initiates, though he had trouble focusing enough to gain control over his Force powers. "I felt your dream again, Master Skywalker."

Mara Jade, a red-headed, tough-as-nails smuggler who had arrived unannounced three days ago, gazed at him with merciless emerald eyes. "The Force, Skywalker, or something else?"

Murmuring began at her words; evidently most of the trainees had not even thought of his dreams being something more sinister than simple visions. Mara, though, had known Luke a little longer, a little better, than the other trainees and had once been the Emperor's Hand, a specialized personal servant of the Emperor. If anyone could ferret out an underlying motive, she could.

Luke sighed and sat on the edge of a table that had been left behind by the Rebels when they had to evacuate to a safer, unknown location. He could still feel the tense thoughts and fear that lay in the walls of this room from the planning meetings, could still hear his voice say to a very young Wedge Antilles, _"I used to bull's-eye womprats in my T-16 back home…"_

"I'm not sure," he finally admitted. "The visions, if so they are—and I think they are—,have been increasing in their intensity. Tonight the woman in my visions had a name, Namina, and she also jumped off a cliff to escape whoever is after her. If this has not already happened, I see no other option but for me to go. The Force warned me when Leia and Han were in danger on Bespin—I believe this is the same thing."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "Skywalker, if you recall, the whole Bespin thing was a trap. Or have you forgotten losing a hand so easily?"

Tionne, a silver-haired woman with little talent in the Force but a thirst to collect knowledge of the Jedi, raised a hand tentatively. "Master Skywalker, if Ms. Jade is correct, what if this is a trap? What would become of you, and us, then?"

"What if it isn't?" That was Kyp Durron, a very promising student who had more than a tinge of ambition to his character. "Master Skywalker can't chance it. He has to go."

Mara made a noise in the back of her throat, but refrained from further comment, though her eyes never left Luke's face.

"I know this is a critical time for some of you in your training and I did not want to just leave you without word or warning," Luke explained. "But I feel the Force urging me to save this woman and so I also feel that I must go."

Cilghal, leaning against a cool stone wall, finally interjected a comment into the conversation. "Do you even know where she is, Master Skywalker?"

Luke shook his head. "Though I have seen the planet around her. I was planning on searching through our archives for any matching planets and then departing. Yet what I wish to know is: will all of you be all right in my absence? You can just continue with what you have learned so far, perfect it, and once you have perfection, contact me through Artoo-Detoo and I will immediately come back." He smiled as the trainees laughed. "Any other thoughts?"

No one spoke, though he sensed strongly that Mara had more objections to his leaving.

"All right, try to recover some of your sleep. Mara, a word please."

Luke waited until he and Mara were alone in the War Room and then crossed his arms. "Okay, out with it, Mara."

She gave him a slight smile. "I'm not sure if I like you being able to read me this well, Skywalker."

"It's the Force," Luke joked.

"Sure it is," she responded dryly. "Well, now that you brought it up, Skywalker, I think that you rush into things. Hence Bespin and the fact that you only have one natural hand. Endor wasn't too smart, either, since the Emperor knew you would go to your father. What if this is the same?"

Very seriously he looked at her. "Do you feel that it is? If you do, I will stay here."

Mara took a deep breath and thought how unfair it was of him to do this to her. She didn't have enough control over the Force to make that kind of call, to _feel_ if Luke was walking into yet another trap set up by one of his enemies. "No," she said through gritted teeth, "I don't _feel_ that there is anything wrong or that you are in danger."

Luke's ice-blue eyes sparkled. "Mara Jade, can it be that you are actually _concerned_ about me?"

"No," she snapped back quickly, though the word lacked the venom it could have had. She turned and walked out the door and into the turbolift. As the doors started to close, she couldn't resist saying, "I'd just hate to have to come rescue you again."

The door closed on his startled face.

* * *

"Artoo, have you computed the parameters I gave you an hour ago?"

Artoo-Detoo, Luke's little astromech droid, beeped and trilled at him. Luke had been around the little droid for so long now that he could almost communicate with it without a screen to translate. Almost. He glanced at the screen beside all the other equipment in the small, dry room.

"Good. What planets have you narrowed it down to that have that orange color of sky and many cliffs, besides Tatooine?" Luke added.

Artoo whirled for a moment, and then a list of planets popped up in front of Luke. He narrowed his eyes and glanced down the list until he felt the Force prompting him to take a closer look at one.  
Antarnae.

"That's it, Artoo," Luke said as he pointed to it. "Chart us a course there as I finish getting my things in the X-wing. We leave as soon as we both are ready."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"He's coming," the woman said shortly, her eyes unfocused.

"How do you know?" The man with her asked curiously.

"I know. Prepare for his arrival. We must be cautious…capturing a Jedi Master will not be easy."

* * *

Antarnae was a world almost as barren and lifeless as Tatooine, though Antarnae had actual spots of forests scattered across its surface. Ghosts of memories stirred in Luke's mind as he flew his X-wing toward his designated landing platform. Something else stirred as well, though it felt muted and far away. A sense of things not right…of a darkness moving toward him…but no actual twinges from the Force.

Artoo beeped from his seat behind Luke and the Jedi glanced at his screen, then smiled. "No, I'm sure there are no monsters here to eat you. Artoo, you really must get over the Dagobah incident. How many worlds have we landed on, and how many times have you been eaten?" A beep of calculation. "See? Not that many at all. Now help me land this thing and we'll see what we can find out about this mysterious woman."

After Luke had tossed his flight helmet into the X-wing's cockpit and lowered Artoo to the ground from his socket, he took a good look around at the very small landing zone. His was one of two ships currently occupying the space there, the sand blasted into dunes behind both of them as evidence to their landings. A single control bunker stood in front of him with two men hurrying out of it. Both wore garments similar to the attire on Tatooine, though theirs was a little darker in color.

"Jedi Master Skywalker!" The older of the two exclaimed, his eyes round in awe, his beard seeming to be standing on end in excitement. "What brings such important person to our little world?"

Luke smiled politely at the men, though inwardly he had hoped that most people had gotten over the 'Jedi Master' awe he had constantly found himself in since the death of the Emperor. "I'm looking for a woman that I believe lives here, or was brought here against her will. Do you have a library or even a database that I can do a little research in?"

The younger man, beardless but with stubble, glanced at the elder in obvious disappointment as he shook his head. "Records none here," he said in their strange accent. "Too small to help us. Maybe we know her, eh?"

With a vigorous nod, the elder jumped in. "We know everybody! Tell us a name and we will tell you who she is."

Luke wasn't sure if he should be telling anyone on this planet anything just yet, but since they had no way for him to search for the woman in his dreams than by word of mouth, he supposed it would have to do. If something more came of it later, sinister or otherwise, he would have to rely on the Force to help him wiggle out of it.

"I only have a first name," he finally said slowly. "Namina. Does it sound familiar to either of you?"

The older looked blank as he shook his head, but the younger man gave a startled jolt, which he tried to hide. Both apologized for not knowing the woman he wanted, though the younger man would now not look Luke in the eyes.

"Maybe a visitor, eh?" The old man said, smiling. "Like you?"

"Or a prisoner," Luke added mildly. Then he switched topics. "Do you have some place I can stay while I am here?" He doubted it; he hadn't seen any tall buildings resembling hotels anywhere on the flight over to the landing platform.

To his surprise, both men nodded at once. "Momma's boarding home," the younger added. He pointed down the only dusty street to the right. "Third home on the left. She's got vacancies."

_No doubt_, Luke thought, amused. "I'll stay there then."

The older man nodded. "How long you stay for, Jedi Master Skywalker?"

Luke gave him a piercing gaze. "Until I find the woman I'm looking for. She's here—now all I have to do is locate her."

The older nodded as though his logic were sound, though the younger man again dropped his eyes from Luke's. There was definitely something that he knew and his elder did not.

Luke would not force the man to tell him. He could wait. This mystery would take time to solve, time he really did not have, but would commit as much as he could to.

He hoped he wasn't too late. He hoped Namina was still alive.

"Come on, Artoo," he instructed the droid. "Let's go get settled in."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

'Momma' turned out to be a rather large but kind old woman who went by the name of Momma Simms. At three stories, her boarding home was the tallest building in the city, therefore easy for any visitors to their planet to spot. When Luke introduced himself, she gave him the top floor suite at no charge and had one of her grandsons run to fetch his small travel bag from the X-wing.

The top floor's suite was named the Antarnae Gem, and for good reason too. The entire floor was one suite, large and expensively furnished. What made it such a prize was not the obvious extravagant surroundings, but the unobstructed views of the planet from all four walls. Luke could easily see why the people lived on Antarnae, with its lush spots of forests that simply drowned out the view of the sand and cliffs around it. It was a planet of unusual contrasts, and the designer of the Antarnae Gem had very clearly played on that fact in decorating the suite. Reds and oranges warred peacefully with cool blues and purples, all seeming to mix together just as much as it seemed to stand apart. The furnishings were all self-contorting; the bed too large for even two people to sleep on; the rugs thick but soft under his feet and the windows able to be cycled to dark to keep the sight of the planet away, as well as hide himself from curious eyes—the windows made him feel as if he were back on Coruscant again.

Luke nodded and smiled broadly, knowing that Momma Simms was watching his every facial movement as he took in the suite. "It's absolutely beautiful," he told her truthfully. "Are you sure you don't want to keep this reserved for someone else who can pay for it?"

The white-haired old woman beamed at his praise and shook her head. "None other than you but one, Master Jedi, and he keeps the sparest room to himself. None more important than a Jedi visitor."

"Then I'm honored," he told her politely, though he wished he could have a sparer room. He was not used to all the luxury that surrounded him.

Artoo, however, seemed right at home in the spacious suite. He wheeled right over to the transparent wall directly across from Luke and Momma Simms and gave a little beep that Luke knew meant he was satisfied.

Luke couldn't help but laugh. "Well, Artoo likes it so it must be perfect."

Momma Simms threatened to split her face with her smile as she made to leave him alone for the evening.

"Wait, Momma Simms. A question, if I may?"

The older woman turned expectantly.

Luke folded his arms into the opposite sleeves of his cloak, which he had donned before he and Artoo had come to Momma Simms' boarding home. "Does the name 'Namina' sound familiar to you in any way?"

The woman thought earnestly for a while, then shook her head. "No, but ladies at sewing bee might know."

Luke nearly choked. Perhaps Antarnae was even more rustic than Tatooine after all. Recovering quickly, he asked, "And when is that?"

"Tomorrow night, Master Jedi. Between the girls, one must know." She smiled sweetly at him.

Luke returned her smile. "Please let me know something if you find anything out."

After she left, Luke sighed and tossed his cloak on a small round table. Plopping down on the bed, and nearly flipping himself over in its pushiness, he rubbed his temples. "Artoo," he called, "can you interface with the X-wing from here?" Since Luke refused to allow his X-wing and his astromech to have their memories scrubbed, the two machines were able to communicate with each other in ways that regularly scrubbed machines could not.

Artoo trilled and rolled over to him, lightly bumping his right leg to make sure he had Luke's attention. Luke smiled and patted the little droid on the top of his dome.

"I need you to record a message for me and send it to Mara at the Temple and Leia on Coruscant. Are you too far away to transmit to the X-wing from here?"

Artoo rotated his dome to indicate a negative, then settled himself back enough to have a better recording range of Luke. When his large blue light blinked, Luke knew he was recording.

"I need help," Luke started without preamble. "I'm on Antarnae, a planet that has little in the way of resources beyond word of mouth. Could either you, Mara, or you, Leia, try to look up the name 'Namina' in whatever records you can get to? Mara, I know you have many smuggler contacts. Is there any possible way you can utilize those contacts to try to find any information whatsoever on this woman? Leia, you're on Imperial Center and the archives there are the most extensive in the galaxy. Surely, you'll find something on her. Cross-reference her name with the planet name Antarnae or the moons close to here. If nothing shows, try also the other planets in this area. Something tells me she's close, though I'm not sure how close. I know that with only a first name this will be difficult, but please do this with the utmost speed and get back to me. Artoo will be awaiting your messages." He nodded slightly and the recording light on Artoo's dome went out.

* * *

Night on Antarnae was deep, filled only with the distant sounds of the animals native to the planet. With Antarnae City only a hundred meters or so from the nearest forest, sometimes the predators ventured too close to the humans making their living off the sometimes harshness the planet offered. Most predators had learned to stay away from the tall creatures with the small holders of painful light, yet even the most cautioned would come to civilization if the prize was tempting enough.

Or was lead to it.

* * *

Laughter filled the air, filling his dreams, filling his ears, his head. The woman gasped and glanced behind her as she ran toward the nearest cliff. There she paused, breathing heavily as she collected her thoughts.

_"Namina…Namina…"_

Startled, her eyes wide, Namina whirled around, eyes searching the forest only a few meters from where she stood on the cliff for her pursuers, yet did not see anyone. By the sound of it, they were too close. Taking a deep breath, she raised her right foot and prepared to jump off the cliff…

This time when Luke woke it wasn't from the dream, but from the sense that something just wasn't right. The Force was somehow muted to him, but still seemed to be screaming at him that there was danger near him. Luke lay quietly in the overlarge bed, listening with his ears and probing with the Force to try to figure out what exactly the danger was. He didn't have to wonder long.

A low and menacing growl came to his ears at about the same time he was able to feel the alien presence of some kind of large animal standing right beside him. Luke thought furiously without twitching a muscle to alert the animal to his varied state of wakefulness. The animal, he could clearly sense, was ready to attack him, though he wasn't sure why or even how it got up three flights to his suite, unlocked his room, and also got past Artoo.

Where was Artoo?

Luke didn't know but he did know that if he didn't do something fast, the predator would soon be trying to tear his throat open. His lightsaber was beside him on a bedside table…near the animal. Any movement he did would trigger the predator, it was that poised to attack. How to get the lightsaber into his hands before the predator jumped on him, pinning his arms underneath it and useless to get to the lightsaber?

Suddenly, he heard a whirling from behind the predator. Luke half-smiled. He remembered the sound: it was Artoo's cutting beam charging up. The little droid was obviously going to try to do something to gather the predator's attention. That might buy Luke the few seconds he needed.

The animal turned toward the new sound…and Luke acted.

Calling his lightsaber the short distance toward him, Luke was just able to close his hand around the hilt when the predator shifted back to him and leaped on top of him. Extremely large teeth dripped saliva onto his neck as the animal prepared to rip into his throat. Luke was just able to bring the lightsaber hilt up and thumb it on as the predator attacked. The light blade went straight through it's insides, searing things as it went, including it's heart. In just a mere matter of moments it was dead, it's weight now pressing Luke into the bed.

There was a curse near the door and Luke glanced up to see the young man from the landing pad rush in. With a grunt of effort, he pushed the animal off of Luke and helped the Jedi sit up. In the night's glow, the lightsaber already turned off, the young man looked haunted and afraid.

"Leave," he croaked. "Someone wants you dead, Jedi Master Skywalker. Leave now."

The man made to leave, but Luke grabbed his arm with his mechanical hand, keeping the young man with him. "What was that thing? And what's your name? Does this have anything to do with Namina?"

For a moment, it seemed as if the man wasn't going to talk at all, then he relaxed just a little and pointed at the predator. "Name's Charm Beldane. _That_ is a nebexar striker. Deadliest thing here."

"How did it get in my room?" Luke demanded.

Charm glowered at him. "Maybe you pretty friend, Namina, she let it in, eh? Stop digging before you end up like it." He tugged at Luke's strong hold on his arm, clearly wanting to leave.

Luke let him go, then eyed Artoo. "You just let it in? Didn't you even check its credentials?"

Artoo made a noise like he couldn't believe Luke had just accused him of letting the predator into the suite on purpose and whirled away, still beeping. Luke couldn't help but give a quiet, though slightly shaky, laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Ms. Jade, you have a message from Master Skywalker," Tionne called into the room the Jedi trainees used as a dining area.

Mara rolled her eyes. "Okay, once and for all, I am not 'Ms. Jade'. Call me Mara."

Tionne smiled. "Mara, you have a message in the Comm Room."

Mara nodded and stood, leaving her half-eaten plate of some sort of local salad on the table. She followed Tionne to the Comm Room and there the woman left her to view her message in private.

"I need help," Luke's image said. He looked tired and more than a little tense, even sitting down as he was on a ridiculously opulent bed. "I'm on Antarnae, a planet that has little in the way of resources beyond word of mouth. Could either you, Mara, or you, Leia, try to look up the name 'Namina' in whatever records you can get to…"

Mara listened to the whole message twice, then deleted it once she was sure that she remembered the name of the planet correctly. In long, sure strides, she walked outside to where the Z-95 Headhunter she had flown to Yavin 4 in was sitting. Just a few moments later she was inside her sleek little ship and sitting at her cockpit, punching in the code that would allow her to talk to her employer, Talon Karrde. His main commodity was information; if anyone could figure out who this 'Namina' woman was, he could.

Minutes passed as her code was checked out and Karrde approached the comm station. "Mara!" he exclaimed, his features semi-hidden in his beard. "I thought you were peacefully mediating on how to use your abilities. What brings you to me?"

Mara smiled tightly. "Information. There seems to be a strange occurrence here and I need anything you can give me on a woman named Namina."

Karrde paused for a moment, clearly expecting more than what she had just given him. Finally, he let out a long breath and raised an eyebrow. "That's all you have for me, Mara? A first name? With billions of creatures in this galaxy, you want me to find one? Not even I'm quite that good, my dear."

"She's human, brown hair to her shoulders, about my height," Mara prattled off, taking details that Luke had told to her from his dreams and putting them together in a more cohesive grouping. "Possibly connected with the planet Antarnae in the Outer Regions, or the planetary group located there."

"Is Namina a first or last name?" Karrde asked as he jotted down the information she had just given him.

Mara cursed inwardly and braced herself. "Not sure. Quite possibly a first name by the way it was used."

Karrde paused his writing and again his eyebrow raised. "Well, that narrows it down a bit, but only a bit, Mara. I'll do my best, but I am a busy man and…"

"Make this top priority at the moment, Karrde," Mara interrupted him. Her fingers drummed absently on her control panel, her eyes distantly focused as she used the Force to try to get a general reading of the events. All she could see was a darkness that threatened, though she wasn't sure who or what, or even when. She could be seeing the Force signature of the Empire during the Emperor's reign for all she knew: she wasn't a Jedi yet.

Instead of her boss reprimanding her for the interruption, he grew more serious and alert. She had only acted like this around him a few times, and every time something momentous had happened, like the unintended capture of Luke Skywalker or a sudden, massive strike by a competitor. "What's the situation there, Mara?"

She shook her head, her red-hair, currently in a braid, striking her cheek smartly. "I can't tell you just yet, Karrde. I just need anything you can find on this name, and as soon as you can get it to me. I'll check back day by day. Until then, Jade out."

Now she had to wait.

She hated waiting.

* * *

"…and get back to me. Artoo will be awaiting your messages." Luke's image winked out and Leia pursed her lips. Her twin knew how busy she was as Mon Mothma's chief aide, yet he had sent her a copy of this message and included her. Knowing him as well as she did, she knew that he considered this to be vitally important. The fact that his message was kept as short as possible while detailing as much as he could also outlined the fact to her that he was treating this situation with utmost care.

What had he gotten himself into now?

"Thank you," she murmured to the communications crew in Imperial Center. She had been in the middle of a fruitless Council session and had welcomed the chance a message from her brother had given her to leave. Now she almost wished she had waited, as she felt the time-sensitive pressure of his request tug at her.

Focusing briefly into the Force she tried to locate him as he could do her with hardly a moment's thought, but gave up. He had been pleading with her to develop her Jedi skills, but her increasingly heavy load of duties as the Chief-of-State's aide, and a New Republic Counselor as well, just demanded too much of her time. Added to that the responsibilities of being a mother of Jedi twins and a husband who was currently missing…

Leia Organa Solo sighed. Who could have foreseen that such a change from Rebel Alliance to legitimate government would be more stressful than jumping from one star system to the next, always trying to stay ahead of the Emperor's fleet?

"At least then we knew who our enemies were," she muttered to herself as she paced the hall right outside the Council chambers, delaying her return as long as she dared. In mid-stride, she stopped and shook herself.

Her brother needed her. The Council could not deny that fact, nor the admittance to a short leave of absence from the proceedings as she tried to locate the facts he needed. Once she had done that, well, she'd just go from there.

Resolute, she squared her shoulders underneath her thin mint green gown and nodded to the two guards standing outside the main entrance. They quickly opened the doors, allowing her through, and the argument occurring inside halted at her approach.

Mon Mothma, a woman rapidly aging under the demands of putting a government together out of a rag-tag group of rebels, glanced up and immediately caught Leia's purposeful look. "Counselor Organa Solo, is everything all right?"

Leia hid a smile. As usual, Mon Mothma had given her just the right sort of opening to make her plea. "Chief-of-State and esteemed fellow counselors, I'm afraid that I must beg a temporary leave of absence to assist my brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker."

Admiral Ackbar, a darkly colored Mon Calamarian who was in charge of the New Republic's military, nodded his head. "Do you need any other assistance, Princess? Perhaps I can call a few ships to help you, or if not ships, at least some personnel."

She shook her head. "Not at this time that I can foresee, Admiral. I will let you know more definitely at a later time." She gazed around at the numerous alien representatives from other worlds. "May I be excused?"

"For how long, Counselor?" That was Borsk Fey'la, a white furred Bothan who frequently clashed with many of the other counselors, including Leia and Admiral Ackbar. "How long will this…crisis last?"

Leia met his gaze coolly. "How long does any crisis last, Counselor Fey'la? As long as it takes to resolve it," she answered.

After a brief glance around those assembled in the very large room, Mon Mothma inclined her head toward Leia. "Go and assist our Jedi Master, Leia. Return as soon as you are able and do keep Admiral Ackbar or myself updated on the situation."

Leia nodded once and turned smartly on her heel, the guards on the inside of the doors scurrying to open them before she ran into them. Freed, for the moment at least, from her never ending duties of a counselor, she resolved to thank her brother when she saw him next…if she didn't have to run after him first.

* * *

"I'm the only other person who is currently at Antarnae City who isn't a native. Don't you think that's going to lead him to me more quickly than the others?" He asked, panic creeping into his tone.

She barely glanced up at him as she performed final touches on what she had been creating for several weeks now. "I know this already. What is your point?"

He wanted to scream at her, but didn't dare. Forcing his voice to a more natural level, he inquired, "Well, what if he sees right through me with the Force?"

"I've already told you…the crystals on this stupid planet will dull his ability to use the Force. I doubt he has even noticed the difference yet."

"But what if he does see right through me? What if he knows I'm working with you, instead of trying to hurt you? Don't you think that will anger him, a full Jedi Master?"

Now she looked at him fully and the smile on her lips was cold as ice. "It might."

He thought he was going to have heart failure. "Won't he come after me then?"

She laughed, low and sinister. "I'm counting on it."


End file.
